Starwood Capital has currently about $2.5bn in capital under management. It has invested over $5bn in equity and $14 in debt till now. It created the Starwood Group of Hotels that owns brands such as Sheraton, St Regis and Westin. Starwod Capital also one of leading owners of golf courses around the world.

What might affect Starwood’s plans is the prevailing real estate environment. “The market is very buoyant right now. I always get worried when trees grow to the moon,” says Mr Sternlicht. But with the economic fundamentals strong and stock markets showing no signs of nervousness, Starwood will have to look at a smart entry strategy.

“We are looking at a range of options: FDI route, real estate fund, investment in real estate developers. For starters though we would like to enter the hospitality sector. We would love to invest in hotels,” says Mr Sternlicht. It then plans to invest in land and later in commercial office space for corporations and also SEZ once the policy becomes a bit more clear.

The planned introduction Hotel de Crillon, a six-star property, would be a part of global push being given to this top end Paris hotel. Campanile is on the other end of spectrum. Budget, priced at 55 Euro a day range and is present at 350 locations throughout Europe.

Starwood has, about a month ago, made its first investment in China but Mr Sternlicht finds India a more attractive market. “I think Indian market is a lot more transparent and in China, the Hong Kong Chinese dominate the scene.

I am not sure about an American company’s ability to add value there,” he says. The one thing that he would really like the Indian government to improve — apart from the airports — are the zoning laws. “I think what you have right now is an urban sprawl. You have to have distinct districts for residential and retail properties,” says Mr Sternlicht.

(This article was originally published in The Times of India)

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